NBE official: Funding SMEs should be accompanied by advisory services

14 / 06 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

Head of Strategic Sustainability Department of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) Maha Hasebou called for offering advisory services and innovating solutions for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to get loans from the banks.

She said the financial inclusion started early with SMEs, but it needs to have certain pillars and a strategy by promoting education through advisory services and innovative solutions. The issue is not just offering funds and facilities for SMEs.

More support should be offered to help for SMEs to be able to confront the challenges besetting them, she said during the the third edition of the Forum on Strategies for Transition to Green Economy.

She noted that the NBE was positioned as a social bank, especially after issuing its sustainability report in 2020.

She noted that startups needed to be backed to overcome the coronavirus crisis and to be able to grow in the market.

She noted that the impact of NBE on SMEs was impressive, adding that the bank was keen to serve several domains, including agriculture, irrigation, and renewable energy.